The Electronics Research Initiative: Innovating the 4th Wave of Electronics Development
Dr. Mark Rosker, Director of Microsystems Technology Office, DARPA
At the DARPA Electronics Research Initiative Summit 2019 in Detroit, Michigan, USA, Dr. Rosker presented an overview of semiconductor technology development, and the role that the US government has played in coordinating and assisting this in the past, present, and future.
Access the slides from his presentation (PDF, 3 MB).
His key point is that although the exponential improvement in Moore’s Law is sometimes presented as a single development process over 50 years, it is more properly a sequence of several waves of development, each one showing initial growth and later saturation. Each wave has been associated with a set of innovations in materials, devices, circuits, and architectures. The DARPA Electronics Research Initiative is now promoting the 4th wave of semiconductor development, which includes innovations such as 3D heterogeneous integration, optimized AI chips, and designing for cybersecurity.
The program of the Summit is available and includes links to other videos and slides of many of the keynote presentations.